LWC Community Celebrates School of Professional Counseling

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Danii Vanderpool is
usually sitting in classroom in Prestonsburg, Ky., on a Saturday
morning.

But Saturday, June 23, she and more than 250 other
Lindsey Wilson College colleagues participated in the college's
School of Professional Counseling Day.

"This was my first time to the campus, and I enjoyed
meeting people from other campuses," said Vanderpool, who attends
LWC classes on the Big Sandy Community and Technical College
Prestonsburg, Ky., campus.

The annual day brings together the students, faculty and
staff from LWC's School of Professional Counseling, which in
addition to the A.P. White Campus in Columbia includes 26 community
campuses in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
The day offers seminars about the counseling profession,
opportunities to network with other students and college
professionals and campus tours.

"We hope you take something away from this day," said Tommie Ann Saragas, an SPC regional enrollment
director, told students during lunch in Roberta D. Cranmer Dining
& Conference Center. "Students usually take something away from
days like this -- whether it was a moment in the (John B. Begley)
Chapel, a meeting with a faculty member or an interaction with a
fellow student."

Through an innovative partnership with community
colleges, community campus students can earn a bachelor of arts
degree in human services and counseling or a master of education in
counseling and human development while taking courses at the
community college campus.

More than 2,000 students have graduated from the
11-year-old SPC community campus program, which includes more than
70 faculty and staff.

"We've seen so many studentsgraduate and achieve their
dreams because of this program," said LWC SPC Director of
Enrollment Ryan Vitatoe.

Vanderpool said the program's weekend, nearly year-round
format is ideal for her. A mother of a 2-year-old daughter,
Vanderpool likes that she can work during the week while taking
undergraduate classes on weekends.

"The format is very convenient for me because it lets me
spend more time with my daughter," she said.

Samantha Neeley, a graduate student at the Prestonsburg
Community Campus, said she likes the program's delivery system
because she can continue to work full-time while also being a
full-time graduate student.

"I wanted to go to grad school, but I didn't want to have to
stop working, and the Lindsey Wilson program went best with my
schedule," said Neeley, who works at Mountain Comprehensive Care
Center of Prestonsburg.